“Main Character Syndrome” is a social media phenomenon described as feeling as though you are the chosen one and that everyone and everything revolves around you. At first, ”Main Character Syndrome” was brought up in terms of “Do you relate to the main character of your favorite book?” It started out as a harmless way that young people compared themselves to their favorite book or movie characters. But now, it has spiraled.
When “Main Character Syndrome” started becoming more popular and spreading across social media, people began to take it very seriously. It was no longer harmless fun. Instead, it was a superiority complex. Young people started to morph the idea of being a main character into the idea of being the most important person in the world. They started calling people “side characters” and saying that the “side characters” lives had no purpose.
Many people started to adapt to the belief that if they were a main character, nobody else could be. People with “Main Character Syndrome” sometimes stopped seeing people as human and started seeing them as objects who only existed so that the main character could continue their story.
Because of the rise of social media fame that came from it, proving that you are the main character has become somewhat of a trend. This is extremely harmful for young adults and teens because it takes away some of their compassion and empathy for the people around them. What started out as a harmless way of finding like mindedness with your favorite character has now turned into a lack of compassion that mainstream media has dubbed “Main Character Syndrome.”